True Love Kiss
by ArollaPine
Summary: What would happen if Ladybug didn't leave Cat Noir after the fight with Dark Cupid? What would happen if Cat Noir confessed his feelings anyway on the Valentine's Day? What would happen if he convinced Ladybug that the kiss was indeed the kiss of true love?
1. A love letter

Adrien pounced on the bed in despair. He couldn't believe that he ruined the whole plan! He had prepared it so carefully, he found the courage to confess, he analysed various scenarios… And it was all for nothing. Plagg had already informed him of what he had told Ladybug. Ladybug, whom he wanted to confess his feelings today. Instead, he told her how much he hated her!

"Don't worry about it, kid!" Plagg tried to comfort him, but it didn't sound too convincingly. "She knew you were under the influence of a spell."

"But still…" Adrien moaned. "The picture of me saying all those terrible things will be forever in her memory."

"Well, don't exaggerate…" Plagg muttered, bored with talking about all this situation. "Nobody has such a great memory. And look at how many valentine cards you got!"

"Even if all the girls in the world wrote to me, I would give all these cards for that special one. The only one. From her…"

"Eugh! Now you're saying only stupid sweet things!" Plagg grimaced. "I think that listening to all this stuff is my punishment for my old sins! Thank goodness you have a fridge full of cheese, otherwise I would kill myself!" he murmured under his breath, sifting through the valentine cards.

Meanwhile, Adrien looked like no word of his kwami reached him at all. He also ignored the valentine cards that Plagg was throwing towards him. Most of them smelled disgustingly with some perfumes. Ladybug never used such heavy perfumes. She always smelled like… Like a fresh air. She always moved with such a grace and charm… And he'd insulted her so much today.

He sighed and looked at the valentine card, which fell directly on him. It was a heart-shaped card and it wasn't perfumed. He unknowingly opened it and read a poem. The poem, which was like an answer to his poem, which he'd written this morning for Ladybug, but threw it out. Somehow, the mysterious sender responded to this poem. Mysterious – because she hadn't signed the letter. Yet, at the moment when Adrien was wondering about the sender, a little ladybug sat on the edge of the card. Like it wanted to show him who the sender was. And Adrien liked to believe in signs. Was it possible that the card had been sent by Ladybug?

Plagg grimaced – it was definitely too much sweetness for him…

But Adrien ignored Plagg. He felt it couldn't end like this. He had to talk to her immediately! He had to find her somehow! But how? How to find a girl, who had been hiding her identity under the mask of the superhero for many months, and about whose civilian life he didn't know anything at all?

Or maybe… Suddenly a thought occurred to him. After all, they had a contact with each other as superheroes. If he transformed into Cat Noir, there was a chance to catch her somewhere. It would be a miracle, but if he didn't try, he might regret it for the rest of his life. Or at least until next Valentine's Day. But a year was a long time, and he always had problems with patience…

"Eat something, Plagg. I need to catch Ladybug today." He announced suddenly.

"What?!" Plagg gasped and looked at Adrien in horror.

"I have to apologise to her for everything I told her today. And I have to… I must confess to her what I have planned."

"No, come on! Do we _really have to_ go through it again?" Plagg winced.

"Yes, we do." Adrien replied firmly, in a determined tone, which surprised not only kwami, but also himself.

A moment later, he sneaked out of the house as Cat Noir.


	2. Was it the card from Ladybug?

Cat Noir wanted to call Ladybug almost immediately after leaving the house, but he thought that maybe… Maybe he could find her in one of the places where they usually met. Today was Valentine's Day, so the Eiffel Tower wasn't even an option. Too many dating people were there today. So, he thought about the Notre Dame Cathedral. If she wasn't there, he'd try to call. Maybe… Maybe she'd pick up…

Although he hoped to meet Ladybug on the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral, seeing her there, curled up with arms around her knees surprised him. He halted dead and she looked up at him. For a second, he could see sadness in her eyes, but she immediately covered it with a smile.

"What's up, Cat?" she asked, winking at him. "Better now?"

"What?" he stammered. "Oh, right! Yes, of course I'm better now!"

"So, how's your Valentine's Day?" she asked, looking the other way.

"So-so…" he muttered.

"Haven't you been flooded with cards from girls?"

"I've got some…" he shrugged. "But I didn't pay much attention."

"Impossible!" She laughed, but it seemed to him that it was unnatural. "Such a superhero as you probably have a crowd of admirers…"

"And they all know my address…" he murmured.

"Ah, right!" this time she laughed for real. "I forgot that we didn't inform publicly about our addresses!"

"The civilian 'me' got some. And you?" he asked, trying to sound at ease, but feeling tension and nervously waited for her answer.

"What: me?" she answered, blushing at the same time.

"Did you get a lot of valentine cards? Well… You as you. When you aren't Ladybug."

"You'll be surprised, Cat." she looked at him thoughtfully, as if she liked, that he asked about her, not Ladybug. "Tones of cards."

"I'm not surprised at all…" he whispered, suppressing an enormous regret and jealousy that she – somewhere in her civilian life – was a popular girl surrounded by boys. She didn't even need a mask to turn their heads.

"Not even one…" she muttered.

"I don't understand…" he froze, watching her more closely. She hugged her knees more tightly and put her forehead on them. He wanted to sit down next to her and embrace her, but she would probably throw him down of the roof!

"Not one valentine card, Cat…" she whispered. "Never mind…"

"That's why you are so sad?"

"Eh…" she shook her head. "I'm sad… because I sent a valentine card to someone…"

"And he didn't answer?" he asked dully and felt a great desire to jump off the roof himself. Instead, he sat next to her and looked at her sideways.

"Worse… I didn't sign it!" she confessed and began to laugh.

"Y-you didn't sign it?" he repeated and blushed. Was it possible that it was _this_ valentine card?

"Oh, Cat! It's because I'm such a failure!"

"Ladybug, please forgive me, what I'll say now, but you talk completely nonsense."

"Seriously, Cat. When I'm not Ladybug, I'm so clumsy. I didn't even sign my valentine card, can you imagine?" and she started laughing again.

Cat Noir had no idea what to do now. He didn't like that laughter. It sounded a bit hysterical.

"You're a superhero, M'Lady." He finally said cautiously. "Can't you go to him and tell him it's from you?"

"Oh, Cat, Cat…" she sighed and shook her head. "I sent this card as me. You know… The ordinary me."

"You're talking nonsense again. How can you say that you are ordinary?"

"Because _I am_. I'd say that I'm unnoticeable in a normal life. Otherwise… Otherwise he'd probably notice me."

"Maybe he's stupid?" He whispered more to himself than to her, still not sure if that unsigned valentine card was from her or if that was just coincidence. Because if it was from her, they were talking now… about _him_.

"Excuse me?!" she was indignant.

"Well, he must be stupid if he didn't recognise you."

"You wouldn't recognise me as well!" she growled, suddenly angry at him. "You would trip over me if I was without Ladybug's costume!"

He looked at her quickly, and she immediately realised how it sounded. She blushed to hair roots.

"That's not what I meant!"

"I know…" he muttered, also suddenly embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That I offended your boyfriend." he confessed with difficulty.

"He's not my boyfriend." she corrected. "I told you that he didn't know about my feelings. But he's not stupid. He's just…" she hesitated. "… quite popular."

Cat Noir blushed again. Another hint that the valentine card was from her. After all, he was quite a popular boy. But he still had no idea who this girl hidden under the mask could be. Was she right that he wouldn't notice her even if he tripped over her? But how was it possible that this fantastic girl was at the same time an invisible, unnoticeable person somewhere around him?


	3. The kiss

"I wanted to apologise to you for one more thing." Cat Noir added after a while of silence.

"Yes?" she spotted, glancing at him with curiosity.

"I think I was so mean to you today." He confessed.

"But you were under a spell." Ladybug replied, taking his hand.

He looked at her in surprise. That gesture… He didn't expect that at all.

"If you didn't take that arrow on yourself, that would be _me_ who was shot and mean to _you_." She added quietly. "The question is whether you knew how to break the spell."

"So, how did you know?" he asked, and then he blushed suddenly, because he remembered that after the fight Ladybug had said something… about a kiss?

"The teacher mentioned that the prince usually breaks the spell by kissing the princess." Ladybug recited with closed eyes, so she completely missed the blush on Cat Noir's face.

He looked at her carefully. Had they been at the same lesson this morning?!

After a moment, Ladybug glanced at him, worried at his long silence and saw the astonishment on his face.

"What?" she laughed. "I go to school. You don't?"

"Sure, I do…" he muttered, confused. Ladybug didn't look like any of his classmates.

"Well, when you were shot with that arrow, I tried to appeal to your common sense. But when nothing worked, I finally remembered what the teacher had said, and I already knew what to do. I didn't expect it would be so difficult."

"So… You _love me_, Bugaboo?" He asked quietly.

"What?!" she jumped up. "What's an idea, Cat?!"

"Well… Your kiss broke the spell."

"Because it was to do that!"

"But only an act of true love thaws a frozen heart." He joked.

"You'd better stop with lines from _Frozen_." She said wryly.

"What's wrong with _Frozen_?" he was surprised.

"I'm anxious that you're quoting a snowman from a cartoon…"

"That snowman was the best part of that movie."

"I thought it was _Letitgo, letitgo_…" she murmured.

"What happened, Ladybug? I don't recognise you." Cat Noir sighed. "A strange mean person has awoken in you. Have you been shot by Dark Cupid, or what?"

"I'm sorry, Cat. I don't know what possessed me. It's probably because of your insinuations."

"Oh, come on! These are _not_ any insinuations!" he denied. "It is a fact confirmed in many fairy tales that only true love kisses work."

"A fact confirmed in fairy tales…" she repeated and narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe that we are really talking about that, Cat. It's complete balderdash!"

"Not true!" he braced himself, also jumping up.

He approached to her and stood in front of her. He looked into her eyes very closely.

"If you were right, you wouldn't break the Dark Cupid's spell…" he whispered.

And he kissed her. With determination. He didn't think about the consequences! In the end, today was Valentine's Day, and she… she was the only girl in the world he loved.

Unwillingly Ladybug's hands went to Cat Noir's neck and plunged into his hair. He embraced her even tighter. And they continued kissing.

"What are you going to say now? Still denying?" he asked when he broke the kiss.

She looked at him dazed a bit. He'd done it only to prove something to her? She felt anger. And disappointment. For a moment… for a moment she'd really felt happy. And he ruined it all. She moved back from him and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"The only thing you can prove is that you're a good kisser." she said. "Practicing, I assume."

"No, Bugaboo!" he denied immediately, grabbing her hand. "I really didn't mean that."

"I don't understand what's happening to you at all!" She pulled her hand out and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's because I've been trying to tell you something for the whole day." He took a step toward her again, but she still looked at him unfriendly.

"I can hear only '_nice_' things from you today." she murmured sarcastically.

"I'm sorry for that. You know that's the arrow's fault. You can't even imagine how I feel with knowing what I told you today."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for you." She commented, still ironically.

"Bugaboo…" he whispered and looked at her imploringly.

"OK, what have you wanted to tell me?" she sighed.

"I can't tell you now, when you look like that…"

"Like what?"

"As if you didn't like me at all…"

"Oh, because you're such a jerk sometimes!" she exclaimed irritably.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered and looked at her so piteously that she immediately relaxed her arms.

"OK." She sighed again, but this time in a conciliatory tone. "Just say what you wanted to say."

"But you ruined the perfect moment for that." he replied.

"Your choice! See you!" she said and turned away to leave, when at the last moment he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer in desperation.

She looked at him in astonishment.

"I love you, Bugaboo." He said softly.

"Wh-What?" she stammered. It wasn't a reaction he was hoping for.

"I said: I love you, Bugaboo."

"But… why?" she asked in surprise.

He smiled under his breath. She really didn't know how great she was? But her eyes seemed genuinely surprised. He sighed. Well, how was he to describe in a few words how wonderful she was?

"I'm not sure what I should start with." He replied with a grin. "You're so brave, brilliant and smart. And you have the most beautiful eyes in the world."

She blushed. It wasn't in words rather in the tone, that caused such a mixture of emotions she couldn't comprehend for a moment. In addition, when Cat Noir was saying those words, he was looking at her with such eyes that… She closed her eyes.

"Oh, you look pretty that way as well…" he whispered, and she heard a smile in his tone again.

And then she felt his kiss again on her lips. And again, her hands went to his neck. She plunged her hands in his hair and pulled him closer, and he embraced her even more.

When, after a moment, they broke away from each other, they looked at each other in amazement. This kiss was something… Really _something_ that was even difficult to describe.

"I'm telling you, Bugaboo." Cat Noir whispered, staring into her eyes. "Only true love kisses are magical. I don't know if you feel it, but I feel the magic."

"I do feel it too…" she whispered surprised, then took her arms around his neck and kissed him. She'd think about it later.


	4. Consequences

Marinette woke up the next day, dazed a bit. The events of yesterday were mixed up with crazy dreams that she had dreamed all night. At first, she couldn't distinguish between the reality and dreams. Consciousness returned to her reluctantly. Wait, wait a moment… Had she… Had she kissed Cat Noir on the roof of the Notre Dame cathedral yesterday?

"Yes, Marinette…" Tikki confirmed while eating a cookie and observing the waking up girl.

"Oh noooo…" Marinette moaned and hid under the blanket.

"Oh yeees…" Tikki smiled. "I didn't expect that from you…"

"Tikki, please stop! How could I do that? After all… I love Adrien!"

"Mhmmm…"

"What do you mean by this 'mhmmm'?" Marinette threw away the blanket and glared at Tikki.

"Oh, come on, Marinette!" kwami laughed in answer, ignoring the girl's glare. "If you didn't feel anything to Cat Noir, would you break the spell? And would you kiss him so long, so intensively and so… uhm… _magically_?" the last word was said by Tikki in a meaningful tone, and kwami watched carefully the girl's reaction.

"It's terrible that you know everything…" Marinette sighed, getting up. "You're worse than the conscience… At least, the conscience can be drowned…" she added under her breath and began to dress.

Tikki only giggled and finished eating, then flipped into Marinette's purse. A moment later, both were ready to leave. It was the high time, because the lessons would start in five minutes. Marinette, therefore, didn't have time to think about her actions on the previous day, nor about her feelings for Cat Noir.

She ran breathless into the classroom just before the bell for the lesson. She tossed her backpack to the floor and sat down next to her friend, Alya.

"What's up, girl?" Alya greeted her. "Did you sleep well?"

"What?" Marinette blushed instantly. "Ah, yes, yes… Very well!" she nodded quickly.

"Didn't you have nightmares?"

"Nightmares? Why would I have nightmares?"

"Well… You know… You ruined your Valentine's Day yesterday…" Alya whispered.

"Yeah… Right." Marinette replied inattentively, suddenly focused on Adrien, who appeared at the door.

"Talking of the devil…" Alya whispered and looked quickly at her friend. Who – amazingly! – was sitting calmly. Well, slightly flushed, but calm.

"Hi, Alya! Hi, Marinette!" Adrien greeted with a wide smile.

"Hello girls!" Nino added, standing next to his best friend.

"Hi boys!" Marinette replied in a similar tone.

"Hey!" Alya greeted, still intrigued by the change in her friend's behaviour. "How was your Valentine's Day, Adrien?"

"You're not going to ask _me_?" Nino asked bending down over Alya.

"Is there anything I don't know about _yet_?" she answered and winked at him.

He grinned and winked back at her. Marinette watched the whole situation with a slight amusement and very interested. She didn't think that these two gravitated towards each other. Alya hadn't mentioned about her Valentine's plans yesterday. On the contrary – she focused on the "Valentine for Adrien" action. In the meantime… They would have to talk about it.

"And you?" Alya turned to Adrien. "How many Valentine cards did you get?"

"I didn't count." he shrugged. "I didn't even read most of them."

"Surfeit?" Nino winked knowingly.

"Rather: appearances." Adrien answered.

"Appearances?" Alya spotted.

"Most of these girls don't even know me. So, how can they be in love with me?" he wondered aloud, completely unaware of an influence on listening girls.

"Doesn't sound like fun." Nino commented.

"Yeah…" Adrien nodded.

"So, you didn't have a good Valentine's Day, did you?" Nino summed up.

"Er…" Adrien flushed terribly. "Actually, I did…"

Marinette exchanged quick glances with Alya. They didn't understand that. Nino also had quite a confused face. What did Adrien's blush mean in relation to what he had said earlier?

Marinette couldn't focus on Professor Mendeleiev's lesson. She wondered what had happened to Adrien yesterday, that caused such a blush on his face. Usually Adrien was calm. Was it possible that in this pile of Valentine cards he found some worth his attention? Did he find the card from her? Or did he include her to those "seeming" admirers who didn't really know him and therefore couldn't love him?

In all this, there was Cat Noir in her mind. How was it possible that in the morning she had sent Valentine card to Adrien, and she kissed someone else in the evening? In addition, she had to admit to herself, though it wasn't easy for her! – that Cat Noir was right. That really _was_ a magic kiss. Or rather magic kisses… And Tikki was right too, telling her that they wouldn't be so magical if she didn't feel anything to Cat Noir. How could she manage to understand that all?

It would be better to forget about everything and return to everyday life. However… She couldn't get those kisses out of her head. And the feelings that were woken up in her heart. She sighed unconsciously, so that hair of Adrien – sitting in front of her – moved slightly. Everyone in the classroom looked at her, and Professor Mendeleev frowned ominously. Adrien's hand went to his neck and the boy massaged the place where Marinette accidentally blew. But she didn't have time to think about it, because the teacher just called her to order:

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I can see you're still in a Valentine mood!"

"I apo-apologise, Mme Mendeleiev..." Marinette stuttered, trying to ignore Chloe Bourgeois' malicious chuckle.

"To put your thoughts on the right track, I suggest preparing a lecture on bases for the next lesson. Bases, Miss Dupain-Cheng! Maybe it will teach you something."

"Oh, of course…" Marinette stammered, wanting to die or at least disappear immediately. She should thank Cat Noir for putting her in this awkward situation. Of course, it was his fault!

"Well!" Mrs. Mendeleiev seemed to be satisfied with the repentance of the student. "But I won't be so cruel, and I'll let you prepare this presentation with a colleague. Let's say, let it be…" She hesitated for a while, and Marinette kept saying in her mind: _Not Chloe, everybody but not Chloe_… "Oh, that will be perfect. Just in the atmosphere of Valentine's Day… Adrien Agreste! You will help Marinette!"

"Oh, come on!" Chloe snorted loudly.

"Miss Bourgeois!" Professor Mendeleiev exclaimed. "I see that you would like to prepare the next lecture! Acids are waiting in the queue!"

Alya almost burst out laughing. Marinette would probably giggle if she hadn't experienced such a humiliation five minutes ago.

"Should I find you a Valentine's partner too?" the teacher added spitefully, so Chloe clutched Sabrina, her friend – especially in doing homework together. Or rather _for_ Chloe.

"N-no, Mme Mendeleiev." Chloe whispered. She wouldn't dare threaten over this teacher with her phone call to Daddy.

"Oh, I'm in a good mood today. So, Chloe… You'll do this presentation with Nathaniel Kurtzberg. I'm very curious of the results of the work of you two…" the teacher smiled maliciously.

Chloe gritted her teeth. Oh, that red-haired Nathaniel! She hated him. In addition, he was terrible in chemistry. He wouldn't do this project on his own!

The bell rang, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Marinette lay down on her desk in a gesture of despair and covered her head with her arms. As if she had too few problems!

Suddenly she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She assumed that it had to be Alya, who always comforted her after life's failures, especially those related to a compromise in front of the whole class. Meanwhile, she heard Adrien's voice above her:

"Don't worry. We have one week. I'm sure we can prepare something."

She raised her head and looked at him surprised.

"Oh, right. Sure." She replied in absent tone.

"Something happened?" he asked.

"What? No, nothing. Everything is fine." she answered calmly.

"You looked…" he started but stopped suddenly embarrassed.

"Don't worry." She sighed.

He watched her unconvinced. But he didn't ask. Apparently, there had to be a reason for these evasive answers.

"So, when are we going to make a date?" he asked instead.

"A date?" she replied with such astonishment that he blushed.

"I mean… you know… to meet to prepare the presentation." He clarified.

"It depends on when you have time." she answered with a smile. "Between the two of us you're the one who's busy."

Adrien looked at her in amazement, though she was right. His timetable was always overloaded with appointments and activities. And yet he found it nice that Marinette thought about him in the first place. He still didn't get used to the fact that there were people who didn't think about themselves before the others.

"I think I have time after school tomorrow. Do you have any plans for Friday afternoon?"

"Friday sounds good." she agreed immediately.

"Maybe in the library?" he suggested.

"Fine." She nodded. "Although… I live around the corner. We can prepare the presentation at my place. At least we'll have something to eat." she added with a smile.

"OK then." he smiled back. He remembered that Marinette's parents were running a bakery, and that meant that maybe they could try some Dupain-Cheng delicacies.

"So, we have an appointment." Marinette summed up and took her belongings from the floor and the desk.

She was amazed by the ease during her talk to Adrien. Probably for the first time since that memorable rainy afternoon, when he had lent her an umbrella, she behaved naturally with him. It was as if the magic of Cat Noir's kisses made her insensible for Adrien's charm. Weird… The consequences of yesterday's folly were very far-reaching. She should definitely think about it!


	5. Lady WiFi

_Warning! This part will be the first one of my alternative plot developments of the actual episodes of the Season 1. Here you'll find some quotations, some paraphrases and some alternative scenes or dialogues resulting from the magical kisses that took place before :-)_

_A._

Friday at school seemed to be quite ordinary. Quickly, however, Marinette became convinced that it wouldn't be an ordinary day. It started with Alya's absence at the first lesson. Marinette was a little worried because her friend had never missed a lesson before. Disregarding the teacher's presence in the classroom, she asked Nino if he knew what had happened. When she heard from him that Alya had been suspended for breaking into Chloe's locker, and that Alya had suspected Chloe of being Ladybug, she expressed her amazement aloud. Ms. Bustier didn't think long about a punishment for Marinette and she sent the girl to the principal. Then the events rolled out. There was no time to think – instead of sitting in the classroom, Marinette had to save Paris from Lady WiFi. From Alya…

As Ladybug she ran quickly to the neighbourhood of the Grand Paris Hotel. If Lady WiFi wanted to know the identity of the superheroine, and she suspected it might be Chloe Bourgeois, she would definitely appear somewhere in her apartment soon. Ladybug halted dead when she saw Cat Noir watching Chloe running around her room in the red spotted guise.

"Is it appropriate to spy on famous girls?" she asked sarcastically, drowning these strange butterflies in her stomach she felt at the sight of her partner.

"Thank God…" Cat Noir sighed with a relief. "I was already afraid that…"

"Oh, come on!" Ladybug waved her hand. "It's so obvious this is just a fan! A miserable fake!"

"Yes…" Cat Noir replied in a deep tone and took a step toward her.

Ladybug blushed instantly. He was going to kiss her right away! And she hadn't yet sorted out all these feelings and... And… It was too late. He kissed her, and her thoughts disappeared from her head.

"You have to stop doing that, Cat." She murmured, stating with astonishment that she had already hugged his neck again.

"I can't, Bugaboo." He replied with a grin.

"Uh, you can be annoying." she sighed, but not convincingly, because she couldn't control the smile. "We have work to do. We have to save Chloe." she looked again towards the windows of the hotel and added, rolling her eyes: "I don't believe I've just said that."

They went to fight. But Lady WiFi was a powerful opponent. She used her smartphone skilfully, stopping the time or blocking the entrance. Ladybug wanted to bring the super-villain to the basement, where there was no signal, but Lady WiFi was too clever for that. They had to face her upstairs.

And there was a trap prepared by akumatised Alya who blocked the kitchen door detaching Cat Noir from his partner. Then she trapped Ladybug and was about to take off the superheroine's mask when it turned out it was… impossible.

"It's magical…" Ladybug smiled ironically.

Lady WiFi snorted irritably. Her frustration grew when she saw Cat Noir in the kitchen. Not through the door? Get inside through the window. Or the dumb waiter in this case.

"Well, well, well… It seems that a little Kitty tries to save his beloved bug…" Lady WiFi mocked.

"I'm not his beloved anyone!" Ladybug denied, blushing under her mask.

"We'll talk about it later…" Cat Noir winked at her and focused on the super-villain.

But Lady WiFi was very fast. After a short fight, she managed to imprison him in a cold store. For the first time, the villain sent by Hawkmoth managed to defeat both superheroes.

"You'd better hurry up before your kitten turns into a little snow-cat…" Lady WiFi laughed maliciously, taking off the padlocks from Ladybug's hands and disappearing in the smartphone.

Ladybug didn't have much time. Her partner was freezing, and she didn't know how to get him out. She usually spared her magical spell of lucky charm for the last minute of the fight, but this time she knew she should recall it earlier.

"Take care, Cat!" she said through the door.

"Take your time, Bugaboo…" she heard his reply.

She frowned. Was he serious? She sighed and used her Lucky Charm to rescue him from the cold store. Seconds later Cat Noir fell out of the huge refrigerator directly to Ladybug's embraces.

"Are you OK?" she asked him softly.

"Y-ye-sss, I-I'm fi-fine n-now." Cat Noir stuttered in reply, holding her close.

Ladybug hugged him tight. She preferred not to think too much about all the feelings in her heart. Now was the time to defeat Lady WiFi and finish the show.

"OK now? Can you walk?" she asked with tenderness in her voice that she couldn't hide.

"Mhmmm…" he murmured still hugging her. She rolled her eyes. What a guy!

"Come on, stray cat! Duties first!"

"Duty before booty." He grinned.

And at that moment Ladybug's earrings beeped alarmingly.

"You used your Lucky Charm?" he asked in astonishment.

"I was in need." she answered evasively. "Now let's go to Lady WiFi. We don't have too much time. If I detransform in front of her cameras, she'll have millions of viewers."

"How will we defeat her, if she's still ahead?"

"You need to drown out the wi-fi signal." Ladybug suddenly discovered the solution.

"So, let's do it, M'Lady." He winked at her and kissed her cheek quickly.

She rolled her eyes. Yet somewhere in her heart she felt amused and had to admit that his jokes had their charm. What the hell had happened to her?

She didn't have time to think about it. After the destruction of the wi-fi transmitter, disarming the super-villain was just a formality. After a moment, Lady WiFi turned back to being Alya, who – even though she didn't remember anything from the day – didn't want to lose the opportunity for an interview with the superheroes.

But Ladybug didn't even try to be polite. The earrings beeped for the last time, so she knew it was close to reveal her identity! She quickly escaped from the roof of the Grand Paris Hotel. She reached the boxroom and was about to shut the door when she felt Cat Noir's hand on her shoulder.

"I won't tell anyone." He whispered.

"No." She shook her head. "I can't. You know…"

"OK." he muttered and lowered his head.

She stroked his cheek. And she kissed him. Quickly. She didn't have time anymore, so she moved back and closed the door behind her. After a while, she stood in the closet as Marinette, and Tikki was flying around her head, shaking her head with disapproval. But she didn't say a word.


	6. Secrets

Adrien stopped on the street and still couldn't believe what had happened today. He almost discovered Ladybug's identity! If only he'd opened that door, he would find out who this girl was. The girl he had loved for so many months. But he had to respect her decision. He felt that it would be better.

He looked at his watch. It was so late. Suddenly he remembered that he had the meeting with Marinette to prepare their presentation.

"Damn…" he muttered and quickened his pace.

"Something's wrong?" Plagg asked with an innocent smile, as always when he caught Adrien on something not enough well-mannered.

"I forgot that I had made an appointment with Marinette today! We need to hurry up."

"I don't follow your girlfriends…" Plagg muttered.

"Marinette is _not_ my girlfriend." Adrien replied. "We have to do the presentation for the next chemistry classes, remember?"

"Don't ask me to remember anything from this horrible place. I mean your school."

"Eh… Some knowledge wouldn't kill you."

"I'm fine with this state of knowledge that I have. I don't understand what for you need to learn about bases or acids."

"So, I can see you've heard something…" Adrien smiled under his breath.

"Unfortunately, I can't be deaf on request." Plagg muttered and hid in Adrien's pocket.

The boy shrugged and ran ahead. He could come up with some excuses for why he was late. But before he gathered his thoughts, he ran into… Marinette.

They looked at each other in shock.

"Ma-Marinette?" Adrien asked in surprise.

"A-Adrien?" Marinette stuttered.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" he asked, and she blushed immediately.

"Uhm… Alya… I was worried about Alya." She replied.

"I… I guess… that everything is fine." He said and put his hands in pockets, suddenly embarrassed, trying not to look at the roof of the Grand Paris Hotel.

"I think so." She sighed without looking at him. "It's… it's getting late…" She changed the subject.

"Yeah, a bit." He admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't get on time to you this afternoon."

"Ah, that's all the akuma's fault." She moved toward her home.

"So, what now?" He asked, following her, still with his hands in his pockets. He couldn't control the sudden embarrassment that came over him. He was afraid that she would ask him what he'd been doing here.

"It's too late for starting to work on the presentation." she answered.

"Do you have time tomorrow?"

"I told you that between the two of us, I have less busy schedule." she reminded him with a smile.

"After all, I can't assume you don't have any plans for Saturday." He answered, and she looked at him quickly. It seemed to him that there was surprise in her eyes, but he didn't think about it for too long.

"Eh, I don't have plans for Saturday." she murmured.

"Can I come to you tomorrow morning?"

"Define _'morning'_." she smiled under her breath. "You know, I'd prefer not to wait for you since sunrise if you come around noon."

"Wh-What?" He exclaimed in amazement and stopped.

"Sorry." She whispered. "I was just kidding."

"No, it's fine." He answered immediately, wondering involuntarily from when Marinette was joking. "What do you think about ten o'clock?"

"Sounds perfect." She nodded.

The rest of the way to Marinette's house they walked in a complete silence. He had still his hands in his pockets. He tried to understand this strange change in Marinette's behaviour. Probably the first time since they met, she was more at ease than he was. And she even made a joke. It was unlike her. Where did the change come from? He couldn't figure it out. And he couldn't understand why he cared about it…


	7. Saturday morning

On Saturday morning Marinette jumped out of bed at sunrise. Adrien could have said what he wanted, but she preferred to be prepared in case he came sooner than at ten o'clock. She started with an un-Adrienating her room. She removed all his pictures from the walls, changed the wallpaper on the monitor, hid a crumpled piece of paper with the poem he'd written on Valentine's Day – deep into the drawer, thinking that she would keep this forever.

She gave the room a careful look. Well, now it was possible to invite a colleague, whom she dreamed of since the beginning of the schoolyear to last Wednesday… To Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day had changed everything. She still didn't understand it, but she felt that something had changed. She had felt it evidently during yesterday walk – the walk with Adrien. The walk that three days ago she would kill for. The walk that didn't trigger the expected euphoria. The walk… which turned out to be just a walk. Despite all the romantic surroundings created by Parisian cloudless and warm evening – so unlike February one…

After cleaning her room Marinette went downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?" mom asked her.

"Sure, mom." Marinette smiled in reply.

"How was your date?"

"D-date?" Marinette stuttered, blushing terribly.

"Yesterday, I saw a boy who walked you home. Was it Adrien?" mom smiled meaningfully.

Marinette wanted to turn back time and stop talking about Adrien all the time. Her parents were convinced that she was in love with him. Well, actually they were right. Until three days ago.

"Mom…" she moaned.

"I wasn't watching you!" mom explained with a smile. "But you were out for so long and I looked out of the window from time to time. Do you know that yesterday was the akuma attack? I was worried."

"I should call, I know." Marinette replied.

"Call us next time, OK?" Mom asked.

"Of course, mom. I will." Marinette promised.

"Good. Now, what do you want for breakfast? You must be hungry after cleaning up?"

"How do you know…?" Marinette asked in astonishment.

"That you cleaned up your room?" Sabine smiled. "Moms know everything, honey."

"Oh, right…" Marinette snorted.

"And they are not deaf." Mom finished. "What did inspire you for cleaning up so early in the morning?"

"Oh…" Marinette blushed terribly again. "Because… Uhm… Mom, Adrien will come today…"

"You have a date again?" Sabine asked with a smile.

"We are to prepare a presentation for the next chemistry classes." Marinette explained.

"Ah…" Mom sighed, as if she understood everything.

"Mom, it's really about the presentation." Marinette moaned again.

"Of course, honey." Sabine smiled at her daughter. "So, what about breakfast?"

Marinette glanced quickly at the clock on the kitchen wall. She still had more than an hour to Adrien's visit. Enough time to prepare breakfast with her mom.

"So, I thought that maybe we'd make waffles together?" she offered with a smile.

"Great idea, honey!" Sabine laughed. "Just don't touch flour!" she joked.

Marinette laughed and walked quickly to her mother. She loved cooking with her – although sometimes she was so clumsy. Recently, however, she noticed that such incidents happened to her less and less often. It was as if the agility of Ladybug affected Marinette's clumsiness.

Suddenly, in astonishment, she realised that this agility wasn't a Ladybug's, but her own feature – only deeply hidden somewhere. Especially in situations when she felt insecure. It never happened to puncture her finger with a needle while sewing or to cut herself with paper while designing. She was good in these fields and she felt confident. All she had to do now was to feel confident in the rest of her life. It wouldn't be easy. But after all… She was Ladybug, wasn't she?

o o o

Adrien glanced nervously at his watch before getting into the car. It was ten to ten. He should be on time. He should be _perfectly_ on time. After that Marinette's joke yesterday, he wanted to ring at the door precisely at ten o'clock.

It wasn't that he treated this joke as a malice. Or that he was very concerned with it. He just thought it would be a joking response to her joke that would help break the ice. Because he didn't know her well, except that they had helped each other a few times. He always had the impression that Marinette wasn't at ease in his presence, although at the same time she showed him sympathy. That was weird. He felt that she rather liked him, but he couldn't get through to her. It was the easiest to talk to her when they were in the group. Actually, yesterday evening had been the first time when they exchanged a few sentences with each other, being just the two of them…

He sighed. That would be tough Saturday.

They reached the bakery in five minutes. Adrien grinned when he left the car. He had enough time to reach the door and ring at ten o'clock. He could even go backwards. He didn't predict one thing. Suddenly a hand touched his arm and it wasn't his driver's hand, but… Marinette's father's?

"Good morning, young man!" Tom Dupain said warmly.

"Good morning, Mr. Dupain." Adrien replied automatically, and the smile on his face slightly dimmed.

"Marinette informed us that you'd come today to prepare a chemistry presentation with her." Tom led Adrien to the stairs to the second floor. The perfect plan to ring at the door exactly at ten o'clock was just ruined. "You won't mind quickly recharging energy before you get to work? My girls have a little bit… well… They have lost control of themselves a bit…"

Adrien looked surprised at Marinette's father. What did he mean, saying "my girls" and "lost control of themselves a bit"? But when Tom opened the door, Adrien didn't have questions anymore.

The kitchen was covered with flour, which laid on all countertops, the floor and even floated in the air. In this mess, Marinette was busy with her mother. Both were giggling like crazy, while cooking and trying to clean the flour. It looked so lovely that Adrien felt a hint of jealousy. And longing for his mother. Although he was so attached to his mom, he couldn't imagine a similar familiarity that connected Marinette and her mother.

And whatever they cooked, it smelled unbelievably. He immediately felt a great urge to eat something sweet.

"Marinette, you have a guest!" Tom announced, then disappeared in the door.

Marinette froze. She stared at Adrien with astonished eyes and then she looked at the clock discreetly, but Adrien didn't miss that quick peep. They exchanged knowing glances. Did she wink at him?

Once again, she surprised him with ease and a sense of humour.

"Hungry?" She smiled at him.

"Just a little…" he smiled back.

"Sit down." She pointed to the chair. "We need to recharge the batteries because we have a lot of work to do."

"Including cleaning?" he joked.

"Y-yeah… These waffles got out of control." She smiled apologetically.

"Ah, so that's the waffles…"

"The best in the world." She put a plate in front of him.

He looked at the plate. Nathalie would have suffered a heart attack if she saw how many calories were there. But he couldn't resist eating everything. Not only it smelled unbelievably. It tasted… divine.

"I see you like it." Marinette's mom smiled at him.

"I must take a recipe from you, Ma'am." he answered politely.

"Oh, that's not my recipe!" Sabine laughed. "You have to negotiate with Marinette. She may share it with you."

"Mom…" Marinette whispered in shock.

"Oh, did Marinette do those waffles?" Adrien was surprised, and he wanted to kick himself for being surprised.

"How could I explain this mess otherwise?" Sabine asked, carefully sweeping the flour. "Well… It is said: a way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"Mom!" Marinette moaned and rolled her eyes. "Sorry about that." She added soundlessly.

And he… He blushed.


	8. The project

At first Marinette wanted to vanish into thin air. When she'd seen Adrien at the door, her heart sank. And then it started to beat again. And not in a crazy way as usual, it was quite normal beating. It was as if her "Marinette-like" clumsiness had been replaced by "Ladybug-like" calmness. She glanced instinctively at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. It was five to ten. She noticed Adrien saw her glance at the clock. She suppressed a giggle and winked at him.

She tried to distract him from the mess in the kitchen, but she was in a lost position. And she knew it. This couldn't be explained anyway. Mom plunged her even more, telling Adrien that this mess was done by Marinette. And when mom added the text "_a way to a man's heart is through his stomach_", Marinette thought for a moment that there was no place on the Earth where she could hide. With a ruined reputation. She tried to play down the message – quite obvious – and turn it all into a joke. Hence the rolling the eyes and silent "_Sorry about that_."

But Adrien blushed despite this. So, he had to feel embarrassed. It was comforting for Marinette that _she_ didn't feel the warmth on her cheeks, that would mean she didn't blush this time. Which didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed. But at least she pretended not to be.

"Leave it, darling." Mom took the sweeper from Marinette. "You have a lot of work ahead. I'll take care of the kitchen."

"But mom…" Marinette protested.

"Take your plates and get to work. Time is a priceless value. It's better to have it saved for having fun in the evening."

Hearing this, Marinette blushed at the thought of what her mother might have meant. Did she suggest a date? Fortunately, Adrien didn't catch the hint. Or maybe he assumed that Marinette might have other plans for the evening. After all, he'd said something like that yesterday. Wait, how was it going? That he couldn't assume that she had no plans for Saturday. So, he accepted the thought that she had a life. All she had to do now was to confirm this status.

Why did she care so much about that he wouldn't get to know her feelings? Or rather, how did it happen that she didn't care anymore about his attention? Silly question. That was such an obvious reason. She let Cat Noir kiss her and look – these were the results!

She sighed heavily.

Adrien raised his head and looked at her with curiosity. And his hand unknowingly went to his neck. It was as if he remembered the last chemistry lesson when she sighed and blew to his neck.

Marinette took the tray with the waffles and drinks and headed upstairs to her room. Adrien followed her without a word. Sabine watched them in astonishment, and when the trapdoor closed behind them, she smiled under her breath, she shook her head and started cleaning the kitchen. She loved cooking with her daughter, but their great fun always ended in the same way – with a total mess. And yet she continued taking this risk, hoping that one day her daughter would finally control her clumsiness. After all, practice makes perfect…

o o o

"I apologise for my mom." Marinette sighed as soon as she put the tray down on the desk.

"You have nothing to apologise for." Adrien answered quickly.

"I don't know what came to her head." She ignored him. "She saw yesterday evening that you walked me home and I think… she made a theory. I'm sorry."

"You really don't have to be sorry!" He smiled at her. "I don't feel hurt. It was even… nice…" he added, blushing a little.

He looked away, embarrassed, which made Marinette uncomfortable. Suddenly the air between them thickened.

"Do you…? Uhm… Do you cook often together? With your mom?" Adrien asked after a moment, just to break the awkward silence.

"Always on weekends. We rarely have time for this during the week. Therefore, the more I value these moments." Marinette quickly replied to keep the conversation going and to ease the strange tension between them.

Immediately she noticed that she didn't help. Adrien lowered his head, and she remembered that he had recently lost his mother. She felt terribly embarrassed again. Their meeting today was a never-ending failure from the very beginning! Surprised, however, she felt the Ladybug's self-confidence again – or rather her own self-confidence, which she revealed while being Ladybug.

"Hey, I'm sorry!" She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned over him.

She smiled shyly as he looked up. They stood side by side for a moment, looking closely into each other's eyes.

"I know you miss your mom." She whispered and looked away. She was afraid that she would see something in his eyes that would make the situation even more awkward. He was a guy after all. Guys don't cry. Unless they were fourteen-year-old sensitive half-orphans whose mother had disappeared under mysterious circumstances…

"I know what will help you." she said bravely, turning away. Slowly she went to the desk, giving him time to recover composure after this strange conversation, and reached for cups. "You must try our famous chocolate. It's a cure for all sorrows."

She handed him the cup and he finally smiled back at her.

"It was very nice what you said." He whispered after a moment. "You're a good friend. You know… I'm not used to…" he suddenly stopped, embarrassed.

"To what?" She asked breathlessly.

"That people are good. You know, so selflessly…"

"Well, you know?" She exclaimed in surprise. "Although… When I remember, who you were friends with half a year ago, nothing will surprise me."

"Chloe is not so bad…" he sighed, and she was surprised how quickly he caught her hint.

"Sure…"

"Did you know that Alya suspected Chloe was Ladybug?" He asked her in a completely different tone, as if the magic chocolate of Dupain-Cheng really worked wonders.

Marinette laughed.

"How did that come to her mind?!"

"Nino told me yesterday morning. Before Lady WiFi attacked us. I mean Paris. She attacked Paris." he muttered confused.

"All Alya. She draws conclusions before collecting a complete set of information!"

"She's just inquisitive. She's really determined to discover Ladybug's identity."

_And to make easy the work of Hawkmoth..._ Marinette thought.

"Why?" Adrien wondered and Marinette realised that she said it aloud. She blushed.

"Well, the guy always wants the Ladybug's and Cat Noir's miraculous, right? Well, if he finds out who they are, it will help him to get what he wants. If I was Hawkmoth and found out who Ladybug and Cat Noir are, I would start by kidnapping their loved ones. Or beloved ones. You know, _give me the miraculous, and nobody gets hurt_."

"But you're not Hawkmoth?" Adrien asked with a half-smile, and Marinette laughed:

"Do you think I could really be him?"

"This plan sounded very plausible."

"If I was Hawkmoth, I wouldn't share my plans with anyone. Even with the famous model, Adrien Agreste." she said and winked at him.

"Can we forget for a moment that I am a known model there?" He grimaced.

_Half a year ago I didn't even know that you exist…_ she thought.

"So, you were probably one of the few!" He laughed, and she realised again that she had said it aloud. What the hell was going on with her?!

o o o

"Okay, maybe let's get to work." Marinette ordered.

It was better to occupy her head by doing homework, because apparently, she was thinking out loud today. Last thing she needed was to tell Adrien what she felt to him. Or rather, she used to feel. Cat Noir effectively pushed him out from her heart. Finally, she was able to behave normally in front of Adrien, and that was a good side of that.

"You're right. Our chemistry project is marked by a mysterious bad luck." He replied.

"I don't think that Professor Mendeleiev would accept such an excuse if we don't manage to prepare it on time." She joked.

"You're right." He laughed. "How will we do it?"

"I have no idea." She sighed. "If we begin to bore with definitions, everyone in the class will fall asleep."

"But we must certainly give some definition. Maybe about uses of bases?"

"What do you think of showing it on a big poster?" Marinette suddenly came up with an idea.

"Great idea!" Adrien looked at her with admiration, and she blushed. Well… He rarely looked at her like that. Not to say that never before.

"Wait a second." She jumped up from the chair and walked quickly to the cabinet. After a while, she returned to the middle of the room with a huge roll of Bristol paper. "I think it will work."

"How do you want to do it?" Adrien asked, getting up from his chair and kneeling next to her on the floor.

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure we'll figure it out soon." she murmured and began drawing a draft of the poster.

When Sabine opened the trapdoor at noon to ask the kids if they were hungry, she saw an unusual picture – both were kneeling on the floor on a large sheet of paper, with books all around, and eagerly drawing and talking one another.


	9. Something has changed

On Monday Marinette went to school in a great mood. She was very pleased with herself, because after whole Saturday spent with Adrien on the chemistry presentation, she proved to herself that she finally managed to regain control over her own person. Not only she was able to behave quite normally in front of Adrien – not counting a little false start with the waffles… – she even managed to impress him.

"Why you're so happy?" Alya greeted her, looking at her suspiciously. "Have you prepared so well to the test?"

"Wh-What test?" Marinette's smile faded.

"Physics. Today we have a test, remember?"

"I totally forgot about that…" Marinette moaned.

"So, you have a problem, girl…" Alya replied.

"Between two evils I choose missing the French Literature classes than another failure at Mme Mendeleiev's lesson. Cover up for me, OK?"

"As always…" Alya sighed and rolled her eyes. A little more, and Marinette will have more absence from classes than presence on them.

"You're the best!" Marinette hugged her friend and rushed to the library. She had an hour for a quick revision – just to pass the test.

"Oh, excuse me!" exclaimed someone, who she collided with at the door of the library.

Adrien.

For the second time in the last few days she ran into him. She rubbed her forehead and looked at him distracted.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked at the same time and looked at each other in amazement. After a moment they both laughed.

"I forgot about the physics test." Marinette confessed.

"Me too." Adrien said.

"I've been already noticed by professor Mendeleiev. I can't make it worse."

"If you would like, we can do the revision together." Adrien suggested and opened the door to the library before Marinette.

"Sure, why not?" she smiled at him with a relief and went inside.

How much easier it was to talk to him now when she didn't stutter nervously every word! He'd been showing her so much sympathy, and she could finally return with the same, without making a complete idiot of herself.

If someone had told her a week ago that she and Adrien would be studying before the test, she would probably be shocked or start to squeal with joy. Now – well, except that she had a great time – it was quite a natural thing for her. They helped each other, as real friends.

Oh, that was all Cat Noir's fault. Cat Noir's and his true love kisses…

She didn't even realise that she'd sighed loudly again. Adrien glanced at her and smiled somehow amused, and green sparks emerged in his eyes.

"You often sigh lately…" he muttered.

She blushed. It turned out that Cat Noir's magical kisses didn't completely erase all warm feelings that she had had for Adrien. Or maybe it was something in his eyes that caused this blush?

"Really?" she pretended being surprised.

"Am I wrong, or you got into trouble thanks to such a sigh?" he was still smiling.

"Oh, I think so…" she murmured.

"It's about the Valentine's Day?" He asked, leaving the revision for good.

"Yeah… I think so…" she repeated quietly, and the blush on her face deepened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy." he withdrew immediately and blushed himself. As if he felt that he was too close to cross the invisible line, which he definitely shouldn't cross.

"It's OK. You're not nosy." she answered easily. "It's just… It was a little unexpected Valentine's Day."

"Unexpected?" he spotted.

"Someone…" she hesitated, but after a moment she began to speak. And when she started, she couldn't stop: "Someone confessed to me that he loves me. Someone I didn't suspect at all. I mean, maybe I suspected a little. A very little. But I didn't think it was serious. And then it turned out…" she stopped suddenly, terrified that she said so much. It was so close to tell Adrien that these feelings were reciprocated.

Adrien also fell silent somehow. He stared at Marinette, amazed at what she had said, as well as concerned with a strange reaction somewhere inside himself. He felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach. But why?

o o o

The quick revision of physics could be classified as moderately successful. Marinette and Adrien just looked through the notes, discussed the main points and, as far as it was possible, they were prepared somehow for the test. But this unfinished conversation about the Valentine's Day was brewing between them like a great understatement.

Marinette didn't even realise that they didn't say a word to each other all the way to the classroom. For a moment she wondered if Adrien felt uncomfortable about her detailed story about someone confessing his love to her on Valentine's Day. But he was the one, who asked! It suddenly occurred to her that he could ask tentatively. He had already been courteous a few times before. And she told unnecessarily the tale of intimate details of her life!

She sighed heavily and realised it immediately. Maybe if he hadn't paid attention to it in the library, her sighs would remain unnoticed for her. Ever since he told her that she sighed so often, she became particularly sensitive to this point.

"You don't know what to do with him?" Adrien asked quietly, glancing at her sideways.

"With whom?" she asked, confused.

"With that someone who confessed to you."

"Actually, I have no problem with it." she answered honestly. "I'm only a bit surprised. I still don't get it. Probably that's why I sigh so much." She smiled apologetically. "I don't understand it, you know." She sighed again, and again – without warning – she started talking and couldn't stop: "It seemed to me that I wasn't interested in him. I mean, he was important to me as a friend, but … you know… not in a romantic way. And he… I don't know what's happening to me. I behave completely irrationally with him now. He talks to me in one moment, and kisses me in another, and I…" She stopped for a moment and unconsciously raised her hands.

"Oh…" escaped from Adrien, then he looked at her carefully.

"I don't know why I'm telling you all this." she confessed finally, embarrassed. "Just forget about that."

"Don't worry, Marinette. I'm OK." he said quietly and opened the door to the classroom.

She went in and sat down next to Alya. Adrien stayed at the door for a moment and tried to collect his thoughts. This whole story, those impressions she'd shared just a moment ago awakened so many feelings in himself. He couldn't name all of them. The strange feeling in the stomach that he had already felt in the library woke up again. Especially when she said about kisses. But there was also anxiety and one more feeling – warmth in the heart area. Because when Marinette talked about that someone who kissed her she made this slight gesture, as if her hands were unconsciously wanting to reach up. And that reminded him Ladybug who embraced his neck every time he kissed her…


	10. Antibug

_Warning! This part will contain some (? Rather quite many) Season 1 spoilers. This will be again my alternative plot developments with some quotations, some paraphrases and some alternative scenes or dialogues resulting from the magical kisses that took place before :-) I omitted most of the episode details that aren't important for this story, so that I could focus only on the scenes that are crucial for "True Love Kiss" :-)_

_A._

o o o

"I have good news and bad news for you." Professor Mendeleiev greeted the class. "Good news is that today…" she hesitated to see the students sighed with relief hoping for postponing the test. "…the test will take only 15 minutes." She finished with a sly smile. "Let's call it _'sudden death'_. Either you know, or not. And bad news is that…" she hesitated again to savour the students' anxiety. "There will be no chemistry lessons this Thursday because I have to leave Paris for a few days."

Marinette tried not to show the joy of postponing her presentation for another week! She had more time to work on the poster. She could improve every detail and in result – she could impress Professor Mendeleiev and make amends.

"So, let's begin!" the teacher ordered.

Marinette looked around to check her colleagues' faces after that horrible introduction to the test. And she noticed that Chloe was sitting alone. Where was Sabrina? And why did she leave her friend just on the day she was needed the most? That was more than sure that Chloe was going to crib… Marinette quickly turned her thoughts to other tracks. There was no time to think about Sabrina's absence. The physics test was supposed to be quick, but that didn't mean it would be easy.

However, the test had apparently a bad luck, with which even Mrs. Mendeleiev was unable to fight. A pupil of all teachers (well, almost all teachers… except the physics and chemistry teacher), Chloe Bourgeois was attacked by an invisible enemy. There was no possibility of continuing the test, the students left the classroom following the panicked Mayor's daughter.

Marinette didn't wait long for a transformation. After a while, she met Cat Noir at the Grand Paris Hotel. Although they tried to investigate the traces, Ladybug couldn't get rid of Chloe, who was still touching her and taking photos of her all the time. Cat Noir watched this with the amusement. His beloved partner was so adorable, when she got angry. Especially when she tried to focus on the task, as she always did. Finally, Ladybug recommended closing all the doors and windows, and then escaped from Chloe's apartment dragging Cat Noir away with her.

Then she almost pushed him to the elevator. Did he just pretend he hadn't known what was going on?

"Something happened?" He asked in innocent tone as soon as the elevator door closed behind them.

"It's not funny." she muttered wryly.

"Come on, Bugaboo." He winked at her. "We're alone here…"

"Cat…" she sighed with irritation.

"Ah, I wish the elevator got stuck between the floors…" Cat grinned, approaching to her.

"Cat…" she repeated, but a treacherous smile appeared on her face.

He did, however, make her laugh and he knew it. He smiled triumphantly and kissed her. Quickly. Because the elevators in the Grand Paris Hotel were fast. Unfortunately.

They got out and began to ask the trusted butler of "Miss Chloe". This led them quite quickly on the trail of Sabrina Raincomprix, with whom Chloe had recently quarrelled.

"But how to get someone invisible?" Cat Noir asked, handing Ladybug a red rose pulled out of a vase in the hotel lobby.

"Focus, Cat…" she sighed in reply and rolled her eyes. Despite the irritation she smelled the flower. Cat Noir smiled.

"Always." he whispered significantly.

"On the mission." she clarified, and he only laughed.

Suddenly he saw that Ladybug's hair had been blown away from the wind, though the hotel's front door was closed. He quickly warned his partner and the fight between the superheroes and the super-villain began.

Meanwhile, Chloe – dressed up in Ladybug's costume – joined them and complicated everything! Then Ladybug made a mistake about the object in which the akuma was hidden. She didn't follow Chloe's advice – this time that was Chloe who was right, not Ladybug. It was difficult to face that truth. In addition, Cat Noir asked almost reproachfully, why she hadn't used that hint – after all, Chloe was the best friend of Vanisher. One could assume that she knew her best.

For a moment Ladybug felt almost betrayed by Cat Noir. At the same time – somewhere deep in her heart – she knew that he was right. She let her pride and ambition were more important than the mission. Soon it turned out that her behaviour had even worse consequences – Hawkmoth akumatised Chloe, turning her into Antibug.

Cat Noir and Ladybug were dumbfounded at the sight of the new super-villain.

"Chloe?" they both whispered.

"Not Chloe, but Antibug." They heard the answer.

"Cat, I have a problem…" Ladybug whispered to her partner. "I'm about to detransform."

He looked into her eyes. For a moment Ladybug completely forgot about the super-villain, a threat, cameras and people on the street. For a moment, she thought only about her partner.

"Go. I'll take care of her." He whispered softly, squeezing her hand significantly.

She could always count on him. How could she suspect him a moment ago that he had betrayed her? His reproach was justified. It was her, Ladybug, who had a problem with Chloe. She should be over it. She was a superheroine.

At the last moment she found a place where she could safely turn back into Marinette. She looked into her purse and realise that she had nothing to eat for Tikki. The ground was shrinking beneath her feet a little. Antibug was a strong opponent and Cat Noir quickly went to the defensive. In the end he was trapped on his cat baton as a bait. And Tikki was eating her cookie very, very slowly.

"I can't eat faster." Kwami whispered apologetically. "But you can help Cat Noir as Marinette."

"As Marinette, I'm nothing. I don't have any super powers…"

"Not true. You're Ladybug whether you wear her costume or not. Just believe in yourself, Marinette."

Giving this advice, Tikki continued eating the cookie. Marinette was thinking very quickly. Finally, she found a solution – she tricked Chloe to take her away from Cat Noir, using the last recorded interview for television. Then she freed Cat Noir from the trap, hiding to stay unnoticed. Finally, Cat Noir could fight Antibug again, and she could turn back into Ladybug.

They met on the rooftop of the hotel.

"What kept you so long?" Cat Noir greeted her, but Ladybug ignored his joke, focused on the mission. She looked at Chloe carefully and said:

"I think the akuma is in her yo-yo."

"I think it's in her earrings." Cat Noir replied.

"Why?"

"She was already wearing them when she was akumatised. And the yo-yo was destroyed." He explained, and she looked at him impressed.

"Ah, pretty good advice, Kitty." She smiled and knocked his bell.

"Have I earned a kiss?" he winked at her.

"Oh, Cat…" she sighed. Of course, he had.

But there was still the villain to defeat. And Chloe didn't want to surrender easily. Especially that she had an anti-charm at her disposal. And a lot of digs for Ladybug, suggesting that without Cat Noir she would be nothing. But Ladybug didn't let these comments break her. She knew very well that Cat Noir and she were a perfect team.

And when they eventually defeated Antibug, Ladybug decided to fix the mistakes she had made many times today. First, she apologised to Chloe for not having listened to her before during the fight with Vanisher. Then she thanked Cat Noir for advice on the akuma in Chloe's earrings.

"Of course, we're team, aren't we?" he winked at her in reply.

_Unstoppable._ Ladybug thought, looking into his eyes. Well… He had a promised kiss. But she didn't want to kiss him in front of people, especially in front of Chloe Bourgeois.

"Like on Wednesday…" she whispered, hoping that he'd figure out what time and place she meant.

"I'll be there." He replied quickly.

And they were gone.


	11. I miss you

"There you are…" Cat Noir said, jumping to his feet.

He had been sitting on the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral for about half an hour, and he wondered if he had understood Ladybug correctly. She'd said: "Like on Wednesday." Like on Valentine's Day. He fed Plagg with a double portion of cheese and immediately ran to the spot. He sat down in the same place where he'd found Ladybug almost a week ago and waited.

He realised that he'd lived like in a dream for the last few days. Those meetings with Ladybug, those kisses that he stole from her and which she started giving him back… How had this happened? He couldn't believe that he owed everything to one kiss – then, on Valentine's Day, right here…

"Yes, here I am." Ladybug nodded. "I keep my promises."

"Promises?" he asked surprised.

She approached to him slowly with a half-smile. She stopped right in front of him and knocked his cat's bell. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you remember now?" she asked.

Cat Noir was completely shocked. Was Ladybug… flirting with him?

She laughed at his expression.

"You're so sweet!" She whispered.

And then she climbed on her toes and kissed him. Cat Noir didn't understand completely, what had caused this change in Ladybug's behaviour, but he had no reason to complain, he focused on the present moment. He put his arms around her, and she plunged her hands into his hair. Suddenly, he… purred. His heart stopped for a moment, and Ladybug broke away from him in astonishment and looked at him with wide eyes.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I… I have no idea…" he stammered and flushed terribly.

She laughed and ruffled his hair.

"You know how to win a girl, Cat!" she said.

"Win?" He repeated in astonishment.

"Well, yeah… Win…" She nodded and hugged him.

And he put his arms around her and closed his eyes. He sighed happily. Ladybug laughed again. It occurred to her that recently she had been sighing as civilian self so often.

"What's up?" he whispered into her hair.

"No, nothing… You've just sighed."

"Because… I'm happy." he confessed suddenly.

"Just be careful that you don't get into trouble." she murmured.

"Why would I get into trouble?" He laughed.

"Er… I don't know…" she replied, suddenly embarrassed.

Cat Noir looked at her intently. To avoid his eyes, she hugged him tightly. Instinctively he put his arms around her, but he felt a strange anxiety. It was as if her words rang the bell, but he couldn't name it. Why did she get embarrassed? And why the fact that he was happy would make him get into trouble?

"I have to go…" she whispered suddenly and freed herself from his embrace.

"Stay…" he asked.

"I've told you that I go to school, remember?" She winked at him. "I have homework to do. You probably too."

"Homework will be there in one hour as well."

"Cat…" she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Stay, please. At least for the sunset, Bugaboo. It's a pity not to use such a spot."

She laughed again.

"OK. But only the sunset." She agreed.

They sat side by side on the roof and stared into the horizon. Cat Noir hugged Ladybug, and she put her head on his shoulder. And they continued sitting in a complete silence, staring at the sun approaching to the horizon.

"I miss you." Cat Noir whispered suddenly.

She raised her head and looked at him in surprise.

"I'm right here." she said.

"We see each other only on the occasion of the attack of the akuma." he explained. "And I'd like to…" he stopped suddenly embarrassed.

"What would you like to?" she asked, when he didn't continue.

"To see you more often." he finished. "Because of all these rules, I can't normally call you or walk you home. I miss you terribly, when I don't see you for a few days."

"We can meet here at the agreed time." Ladybug suggested.

"Tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

"I can't." she replied quickly, reminding herself that she had arranged with Adrien to finish the poster. It was even before Professor Mendeleiev had cancelled Thursday's chemistry lesson.

"On Wednesday?"

"It can be on Wednesday." she smiled. "We can meet to watch another sunset."

"If there's no rain."

"Then take an umbrella. Just in case." she advised and stood up. "I really have to go."

"OK." he also stood up.

"So, see you on Wednesday, Kitty."

"Unless Hawkmoth takes care of our earlier meeting…" he joked.

She laughed. She climbed on her toes and kissed him good-bye.

When she jumped down, he felt an urge to follow her. But he knew that she would never forgive him if he followed her on the way home. At all costs, they had to keep their identities secret.


	12. Half-reveal

"Marinette, you have a guest!" Sabine called her daughter on Tuesday afternoon.

Marinette showed up immediately at the trapdoor. Adrien looked up and went upstairs. When he went into Marinette's room he noticed the poster on the floor. Marinette had managed to finalise almost all drawings since Saturday.

"I can see you don't waste your time." He commented.

"I couldn't fall asleep yesterday." She said. "Drawing helps me to mellow out."

"Are you still having heart problems?" He asked before he could bite his tongue. "Sorry, I'm getting nosy again!"

"It's fine!" She laughed in reply. "I just had a crazy day yesterday. It was difficult for me to calm down after all this."

"At least we didn't have that test on the physics class." he reminded.

"Exactly. By the way… Thanks for help with the revision. If you didn't help me, I would probably fail this test."

"It didn't happen anyway."

"Yeah, right! It will be necessary to revise it again because professor Mendeleiev won't let it go."

"She'll change '_sudden death_' for '_more sudden death_'… Same questions, only half of time."

"I hope you can't foretell the future!"

"Don't worry, Marinette. I'm sure you can do it." He encouraged her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

It surprised her that this gesture didn't make her the expected impression. Not for the first time in the last week she felt completely insensitive to Adrien's charm.

"Let's think about what else we should add to this poster…" She changed the subject and turned away to the desk for a set of pastels and markers, thus freeing herself from the touch of Adrien.

His hand hung in the air, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. He controlled himself immediately and glanced at the poster.

"You know, I was thinking about it a little and I would give a definition of the bases anyway." He said.

"You think so?" Marinette wasn't convinced.

"Professor Mendeleiev is a traditionalist. I think she'll be happy if our presentation has any definition."

"Alright. You convinced me." Marinette sighed. "Where will we write it?"

They leaned over the poster, refining the details and looking for a place to put the definition. Finally, Marinette reached for the black marker.

"Maybe I'll write it?" Adrien suggested. "You've done so much that I feel totally useless."

"I just drew everything you said." Marinette laughed. "Your knowledge is on this poster, though drawn with my hand."

"We complement each other in this case." he concluded.

"Indeed…" she admitted in astonishment and looked into his eyes.

"So… Will you let me ruin this poster?" He blushed from her gaze.

"Can you do a calligraphy?"

"N-no. And you can?"

"You'll find out soon." She smiled slyly and knelt at the corner of the poster.

Adrien looked at her in disbelief. During last week Marinette had changed completely. He hadn't noticed so far that she was so confident, funny and ease. Just like… Suddenly he ran out of breath at the sight of the letters Marinette was writing in a row on the poster. He would recognise these letters at the end of the world. That was the handwriting from his mysterious Valentine card…

o o o

Adrien had a problem. In one moment, his life had become very complicated. And then he acted like a fool and complicated his life even more.

"Try to explain it to me again, because I don't understand you at all, kid." Plagg said, eating his favourite camembert as a part of therapy.

Adrien unknowingly was giving him more pieces of stinking cheese, and his kwami gladly used the boy's distraction trying to repay with life advice.

"Oh, OK… So here it is… But focus, Plagg! I _really_ need your help!"

"OK, OK… Tell me! But don't make a mess. Try to tell me everything in order, can you?"

"I'm totally lost. What are the chances that someone wrote a Valentine card to me with the same handwriting that Marinette signed the poster today?"

"Maybe it was someone who went to the same calligraphy classes?" Plagg suggested.

"You were supposed to help." Adrien said wryly.

"And you were supposed to tell everything in order." Kwami answered back. "You talk in reverse order."

"I'm trying to solve the riddle. I don't have to tell you what I did, because you were there."

"When you escaped from Marinette in a disorderly retreat?" Plagg grinned.

"Er… Yeah…" Adrien blushed when he remembered that moment.

It looked terrible, indeed. And when he began to think about it after returning home, his behaviour seemed to him even worse: first he'd been speechless, then he realised the horrible truth that it had been Marinette not Ladybug who probably sent him that Valentine card. The next moment he realised that if he showed embarrassment, Marinette would connect the dots – especially that he was staring, shocked, at her beautiful calligraphy – and it would become really awkward. And then he was just a step away from panicking. Because he knew he had to regain his composure, and he couldn't do it.

So, he did the worst possible thing. He escaped. He ran away, muttering a stupid apology at the door, that he'd just remembered about a very important photo shoot and had to go. What a crap!

Adrien ruffled his hair, belatedly realising that his fingers were stained with camembert. He winced. As if he didn't have enough problems! Now he'd be stinking with blue cheese!

"You messed it up." Plagg summed up, as if he read in his mind.

"What should I do now?"

"Honestly, kid, I don't know what to tell you."

"Great…" Adrien grumbled.

"Seriously. I have no idea how to fix it."

"When I close my eyes, I can see the astonishment in her eyes." Adrien moaned and combed his hair with his hand again, packing more and more camembert in it.

"You won't need a hair gel in a moment." Plagg said and added: "Maybe let's put away cheese."

Adrien looked at his kwami stupefied. Had Plagg just said…?

"Yeah, I don't believe I said that either." Kwami confirmed.

"What did she think about me?! What if she guessed that I had recognised her handwriting? If she was the one who'd sent this Valentine, she would now think that I ran away, because I realised that I had received a valentine card with a love poem from her. And she'll think I don't want her. And she will end our friendship…"

"Breathe, Adrien." Plagg interjected.

"I wouldn't want to lose her." Adrien suddenly confessed, surprising himself with this confession.

"I remind you that you are in a happy relationship with Ladybug." Plagg muttered and reached for the cheese again.

"Ladybug!" Adrien exclaimed and looked in astonishment at his kwami.

"What?"

"Do you think…? Do you think Marinette is… Ladybug?"

Plagg almost got choked with camembert.

"How… did this… come to your mind?" he asked with difficulty.

"Well, logically, Plagg." Adrien replied excited. "First, Ladybug broke the spell with a kiss. When we met on the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral, she recited the text from our morning lesson! So, she'd had to sit in the same classroom! She told me that she'd sent a valentine card and didn't sign it. The recipient was supposed to be a popular boy. So, it could be me, right? The valentine was written with Marinette's handwriting and it's the answer to my poem. She could find it in the trash can, where I'd thrown it out after the French Literature lesson."

"Well, your logic has a few shortcuts." Plagg murmured wryly.

"On the contrary!" Adrien replied. "Everything fits perfectly together!"

"So, what are you going to do about it? If, I repeat _'if!'_ Marinette is Ladybug, you just made a giant fool of yourself in front of your beloved one."

"I'm so happy I can always count on you, Plagg!" Adrien muttered, combing his hair with the camembert-stained hand once more. Again, he realised that he was packing another portion of smelly cheese in his hair and sighed irritated. "I'm going to wash this stench away!"

Plagg just rolled his eyes and continued to enjoy the favourite delicacy. But when the bathroom door closed behind Adrien, he looked there anxiously. Master Fu wouldn't be happy…


	13. Complications

For the first time in six months Adrien was unable to get up to school in the morning. For almost the entire night he couldn't sleep, and when he finally fell asleep, he had nightmares in which he was dumped by Ladybug or alternatively by Marinette.

Barely alive, he finally managed to go downstairs for breakfast, not even paying attention to Plagg, who behaved differently since yesterday's conversation. Instead of croaking maliciously at the sight of Adrien, kwami was looking at him carefully – as if he was worried…

"Just to remind you, Adrien. You have a photo session tonight." Nathalie said in a tired tone, while he was chewing his breakfast that had no taste for him.

"Tonight?" he repeated, surprised.

This evening he had a date with Ladybug on the roof of the Notre Dame cathedral! If he didn't show up, she would think he neglected her. How was he supposed to send her a message that he wouldn't be there? It would be easier if they knew their civilian identities. If he was right, he could just inform Marinette. But what was he to tell her? That Cat Noir wouldn't come, because Adrien had a photo session? He almost laughed. It was ridiculous!

After a while he just concluded that if Hawkmoth didn't attack anyone today, he'd try to leave her a message on her phone. If she waited for him this evening, she would check their miraculous messenger.

One problem solved, others were still waiting for a solution.

He sighed.

"You seem not to have a good sleep." Nathalie gave him a careful look.

"I'll be alright."

"You can't look like this on the photo session." she shook her head displeased. "It's unprofessional, Adrien. You know the schedule."

He looked at her reproachfully but didn't say a word. Nathalie was right – he had his duties and should behave like a professional, not a teenage boy in love. Only since yesterday, the emotions saved for teenagers in love took precedence over the cold professionalism to which his father and Nathalie had been forcing him for almost whole his life.

"I'll take care of it." Nathalie ignored his outraged look and began clicking on the tablet with which she didn't part even for a moment. Adrien suspected that she slept with this device as well.

He returned to breakfast. He still didn't feel any taste but turned on the autopilot and simply vegetated. After a moment, Nathalie had a new schedule for him.

"We'll postpone the fencing for tomorrow. You'll come back from school right after classes. Right after classes, Adrien!" She repeated severely. "There's no wandering with friends, did you understand? We'll use these two hours to do something with you. From five o'clock, you have the photo session on the Eiffel Tower."

"How long it will take?" Adrien grimaced.

"The winter sunset is the photo session theme. So, the answer is: until nightfall." Nathalie replied coldly.

He already knew that he had no chance to be on time on the rooftop. They had also arranged for sunset. He sighed despairingly. He wouldn't see her today. Unless after nightfall…

o o o

"Dude, you look like a zombie!" Nino greeted Adrien, as only he appeared at school.

"Thanks, Nino…" Adrien muttered in reply.

"Love problems? I told you that Valentine's Day was a surfeit for you. You can't sleep because of girls?"

"Kind of…" he murmured. Indeed, he couldn't sleep because of girls. Or rather _the girl_. It depended on if he was right, or not.

"Hi, Nino!" Alya joined them.

"Oh, Alya… Hi…" Nino stuttered and flushed.

He looked as if he didn't know what to do with his hands. Adrien barely controlled his amazement. He didn't want to make his friend more embarrassed. Instinctively he looked away. Marinette was standing by her friend – just as he expected.

"Hi, Adrien." she smiled at him, and he felt that he would follow Nino's acting with blushes and hands that would be best cut off because they suddenly were useless. "I can see that the photo session took long."

"Yeah, I know, I look like a mess." He sighed and ruffled his hair. At least he could blame his bad look for this sudden embarrassment. He would now turn out to be a shallow model who only cared about how he looked like!

"I finished the poster yesterday." She informed him, ignoring her friend's surprised look. For the first time Alya was present at Marinette's conversation with Adrien since Cat Noir had messed in her heart enough that she could talk to Adrien completely at ease.

"I'm so sorry!" Adrien admitted, standing with Marinette aside. "Nathalie almost killed me today with information about the next photo session today in the afternoon. Those people got crazy or what?"

"So, today there's no chance to finish the work?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah… Sorry…"

"Actually, I relieved. It turns out I don't have to change my plans…" she muttered with a smile, and Adrien froze immediately.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't assume you don't have plans for the evening…" he whispered, embarrassed.

"It's nothing. I mean, it's nothing, you didn't think about it. Not that my plans aren't important…" Marinette tried to explain but tangled up.

Adrien felt his ears burning. They had to be terribly red. He had never wanted to be right so much. That Marinette was Ladybug. That she was talking about him right now. That their date was so important to her. On the other hand, he knew he wouldn't come today. And maybe he would hurt her. At the thought of it, he felt a knot in his stomach and wanted to tell Nathalie what he thought of these stupid photo sessions!

"You have… uhm…" he cleared his throat. "You have a date?"

"You know I do?" She smiled, and her eyes glittered. His blush only deepened. He wanted so much she was thinking about him now!

"Is… Is it this boy you told me about?"

"Yes. We arranged to watch the sunset. Don't you think it's quite romantic? I didn't expect that from him."

_He won't come… I won't come, Marinette!_ He thought sadly.

"Cool." he answered dully. "What if he didn't come?" he blurted before he thought. Marinette looked at him quickly.

"He's never let me down." she replied calmly, but she looked at him intently.

_Sure… kick me when I'm down!_ He thought, feeling worse and worse.

"I'm very happy." he replied instead, and he wanted to kick himself for that.

"Adrien? Are you OK?" Marinette asked in a serious tone, taking his hand. She was still looking at him carefully, and he could only think that her little hand fitted in his hand, just as Ladybug's hand fitted in Cat Noir's hand.

"Yes, Marinette. I'm fine." he finally replied.

"You need to take a rest. You need to recharge your batteries." She whispered and let go of his hand.

"I just have to sleep." He smiled weakly. "Nathalie has already arranged for me some kind of relaxation trash today after school." He grimaced.

"Maybe it's some kind of trash but try to benefit from that." she answered seriously.

"Thanks, Marinette."

"You're welcome, Adrien. What are friends for?" She smiled and walked away to Alya.

And he wanted to run after her.


	14. Rooftop date

He probably beat the world record in rooftop running. He ran the distance between the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral in less than he could understand. He had done his job during the photo session, then he excused with his homework and disappeared in the air. Officially, he took a taxi back home. In fact – he ran headlong to his date with Ladybug.

He hoped she'd checked her voicemail and agreed to wait for him a bit longer. But until he didn't stand at the rooftop of the cathedral and didn't see her sitting there – curled up with arms around her knees, as a week ago, on Valentine's Day – he didn't dare to believe in that hope.

"You see? You managed…" she greeted him with a half-smile.

He sighed with a relief. No wry _"You're late", "I was about to leave", "Finally…"_ No, she welcomed him, as if she didn't mind his being late, but was happy that he managed to come anyway.

"I hate my civilian life." He replied, approaching to her.

"Don't say that." She stood up.

"It complicates my love life." He added, embracing her tight.

"You've come. And that's all that matters. You know…" she hesitated. "I really believed that you'd come. You've never let me down yet." She said plunging her hands in his hair.

Cat Noir's heart stopped for a moment. Another evidence. Another trail. Another proof that Marinette was Ladybug. He froze with his face close to her face. She looked at him in surprise. She would have expected a kiss a long time ago, while Cat Noir stopped the millimetres from her lips, apparently experiencing some dilemmas.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked in a whisper.

"Today I was really afraid that it would be the first time I let you down."

"Unnecessarily. I checked my voicemail, heard your message. Even though I watched the sunset alone you appeared only a little late. You missed a beautiful view by the way."

He sighed. If only she knew. He also watched this picturesque sunset. After all, the entire photo session took place on its background.

Ladybug was still staring at him intently. And she still didn't get a kiss. Concerned, she asked again:

"Surely nothing happened? Cat, you behave strangely…"

"To whom did you send this Valentine card a week ago?" He asked frankly before he thought. For the second time that day, he blurted something that he hadn't thought about completely. Or rather something that he would never ask so directly.

"Cat…" she sighed in reply and moved back from him. "I can't tell you. But you don't have to be jealous."

"But… It's not the point…"

"So, what's the point?"

That was the thing he couldn't tell her. He would reveal his identity, and she would never forgive him if he did. How should he ask her if that Valentine card was from her? She sent it as a civilian girl, not as Ladybug. And in addition to his civilian self, not to Cat Noir. It was so tangled!

"Don't be jealous of that Valentine card." She whispered, embracing him tighter.

"I'm not."

"I feel something has happened." she remarked anxiously.

"I…" he hesitated. "I think I know who you are…"

She looked at him in shock. In her eyes he could see a million questions like _"How?", "When?"_ And yet he heard:

"And that's why you haven't kissed me yet?"

He glanced at her uncertainly. Was she joking? He smiled with a half-smile.

"On the contrary." he muttered.

"So, what's the problem?"

_That Marinette doesn't love Adrien…_ he thought sadly, but he was silent. He couldn't tell her that. Instead, he could finally kiss her. And forget about this conversation. It was better that it stayed as it was. Ladybug was right – they shouldn't know their identities.


	15. Animan

_**Warning!**__ This is the last part with Season 1 spoilers. This time quite a lot quotation, because this time not words but background (or interpretation) is changed. Again, I omitted most of the episode details that aren't important for this story, so that I could focus only on the scenes that are crucial for "True Love Kiss" :-)_

_A._

o o o

"It can't be like that anymore, dude!" Nino patted Adrien on the back on Friday afternoon. "You're totally exhausted."

"I'm fine…" Adrien sighed apathetically.

This wasn't true. He felt torn. Whenever he saw Marinette at school – and he saw her practically all the time – all his heart was bursting to her. And at the same time, he knew that he wasn't allowed to say anything. He couldn't tell her that he was Cat Noir. And he couldn't say that he guessed she was Ladybug. But the worst part was that he couldn't hug her, kiss her, hold her hand – just be with her. It was a torture – have her at his fingertips and couldn't even touch her.

"Sure…" Nino didn't buy it. "I'm not blind. You're not yourself from Valentine's Day. First, some euphoria, and now you look like hell."

"You won't understand. I don't get it myself."

"You need entertainment!"

_If this could help for my problems…_ Adrien thought ironically.

"We're going to the zoo today. With Alya and Marinette. And you're going with us." Nino said, and it was neither a question nor a suggestion.

"Does this trip to the zoo have any hidden purpose?" Adrien asked with a sly grin.

Nino blushed.

"I see that even a prospect of going out has improved your mood." he commented. "And there is no hidden purpose. I wanted… I wanted to invite Alya somewhere, but… it was safer to organise a group journey… Because you know…"

"Actually, I don't. But I'd be glad to know." Adrien smiled. "You said something about the Valentine's Day, but it would be nice if you tell me something more."

"Eh…" Nino sighed. "I'll tell you about the Valentine's Day, but only on the condition that you go to the zoo with us."

"Okay. Deal." Adrien agreed. Anyway… Going out with Marinette was a very looked-for perspective for him. For many reasons. And each of them was also strongly connected with the Valentine's Day.

o o o

"Hey!" they greeted each other when they met at the spot.

Then there was an embarrassing silence. Adrien gave his friends a quick glance. Nino had informed him that he had planned a joint going out to spend some time with Alya. But they forgot to discuss how to divide the group into pairs that the friendly trip to the zoo would turn into a date. For Nino and Alya, of course. Although Adrien wouldn't mind if he could spend some time with Marinette in private as well.

Before anyone spoke, their classmates, Kim and Max, joined their group.

"Hey there! You came to see the new panther?" Kim asked.

"Kind of…" Nino murmured in reply.

"I was wondering if it's faster than me." Kim boasted.

"Panthers can run at speed in excess of 60 miles per hour." Max informed everyone.

"60 miles per hour? That's all? I bet I could beat it in a race!" Kim laughed.

"I'm not so sure…" Marinette whispered.

"If we count it…" Max began, but Kim interrupted his calculation and said:

"Come on, let's see that cat!"

"We'll join you later." Alya said coldly. "I think it's the feeding time now. It's forbidden to disturb animals when they're fed. My dad told me that once."

"Your dad!" Marinette spotted, observing Kim and Max who had left them in the direction of panthers' area. "He works here, right?"

"Yes, and he's responsible for this new panther." Alya informed her friends.

"And he isn't afraid?" Adrien joined the conversation.

"Afraid of what?" Alya laughed. "My dad loves animals and they feel it. If you show a fear or an aggression, they can attack you, of course. But if you're…"

She stopped suddenly, because at that moment Kim ran into them screaming:

"Wild panther!"

They froze in horror at the sight of the wild animals that passed them and chased Kim. A second later, Nino pulled Alya towards a safe hiding place, and Adrien – well… He didn't behave knightly towards Marinette, leaving her in the middle of the alley, but he knew that he had to give her space to transform into Ladybug.

A moment later they stood side by side – Ladybug and Cat Noir – between Animan and Kim.

"If you value your life get out of here. Now!" Ladybug ordered to Kim.

Kim started running as if it was a sprint, and the superheroes took care of the super-villain. Ladybug tied him with her magical yo-yo, and they were about to reach for the bracelet in which the akuma was hidden, when Animan called the other animals to help him. Wild animals started to attack, and Ladybug and Cat Noir had to save themselves by escaping.

"We need to put them back in their cages." Cat Noir noticed.

"Oh, really?" Ladybug snorted irritably. "I'm sure they will let us lead them without a fight."

He glanced quickly at her. She had to be very tensed up if she was so sarcastic. No wonder – she had left her yo-yo with Animan.

Suddenly Ladybug gasped terrified when she saw a gorilla chasing Alya and Nino. Cat Noir felt his heart stopped beating at the sight of his friends in danger.

"I think we'd better split up." Ladybug said.

He looked at her with delight. Even at that moment, she was thinking about her friends. What a wonderful girl!

Ladybug caught Alya and Nino at the last moment. She placed them in an empty cage and before she closed the door she said:

"Stay. You'll be safe here."

And she returned to her partner.

"There are too many of them." She sighed, watching the wild animals surrounding them. "We can't capture them all."

"So, what are we going to do?" he replied with a question.

"Back to plan A. If we can destroy his bracelet, I can capture the akuma. Everything will get to normal."

"Sounds like a good idea, M'Lady." Cat Noir smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

But the panther disappeared, and the yo-yo was lying undamaged in the alley. They had a riddle to solve. They also had Kim to find before Animan got him. They ran to the city centre. They saw Kim and the super-villain literally at the last moment. The panther dangerously approached to the boy and it was about to catch him when Ladybug caught it with her magical yo-yo. Meanwhile, Cat Noir told Kim to hide in a building. He patted him comfortably on the back, placing the locator on his shoulder.

"You'll never get me." Animan muttered and transformed into an eagle and disappeared.

Ladybug and Cat Noir exchanged glances.

"Now we know how he got away earlier." Cat Noir sighed, jumping on the railing and observing the sky.

Ladybug came closer to the railing and stared at the sky as well. She had no idea what to do next. She suddenly remembered Kim. Where was he now?

"Where's Kim?" she asked her partner.

He smiled under his breath and without a word showed her a flashing spot on the map on his communicator. She looked at him with appreciation, and he felt happy.

"Good job Kitty." She whispered and knocked his bell.

"Have I earned a kiss?" he asked her as he had already done during the fight with Antibug.

"You don't have to make any special efforts to get one, Cat." She winked at him and kissed him on the cheek. "Get to work!"

And they ran toward the spot on the map.

Ladybug stopped suddenly when she realised that Kim had hid in her parents' house. Oh, it was getting harder and harder.

"He's safe inside a building. Panthers can't open door, so it won't get inside." Cat Noir noticed.

"Panthers can't but what if he morphs into something smaller? Animan will smell him out sooner or later. We have to plan the next move."

"I'm listening, Bugaboo."

They entered finally the Dupain-Cheng's bakery.

„Hi Mo… a'am…" Ladybug stuttered, and Cat Noir didn't miss that.

He glanced at her quickly and then looked away. While Ladybug was informing Kim about their plan, he stared at the family photo of Marinette and her parents. It was obvious that they were a wonderful family. Such as he'd never had. He remembered last Saturday, when he'd come here to prepare the presentation, and Marinette and her mom were making waffles in the kitchen together. He suppressed a sigh. He had to focus on the mission.

Ladybug's plan worked perfectly – as always. They managed to lure Animan near the Dupain-Cheng bakery and then imprison him on the bus. They noticed that the transformations costed him more and more energy and they wanted to tire the super-villain out, to finally catch the akuma. They didn't foresee one thing – that dinosaurs were also, well… animals.

"Since when do extinct animals count?" Cat Noir exclaimed in indignation, then pulled his partner to hide behind the car.

"There's no sense in focusing on biology lessons, Cat." Ladybug muttered. "Lucky charm!"

After a while, she was holding… a car jack.

"Too bad that Animan doesn't have any flat tires." Cat Noir commented, and Ladybug only rolled her eyes. Those his jokes…

"You climb on the top of him to distract him. Then I'll get him down."

"Sounds like a good plan. I can be very distracting." He whispered leaning over her.

"Cat… duties first, don't you remember?" she sighed.

"A huge tyrannosaurus will eat us in a minute, Bugaboo. Don't you think we should kiss for the very last time?"

"Nice try, Kitty!" she laughed in reply and kissed him on the cheek. "Recently I've kissed you more often than I catch the akumas, Cat." She noticed.

"The average kiss on the akumas grows." He nodded. "I like this statistic."

"Well, enough flirting. Get to work!" she jumped from the ground.

After a moment Cat Noir tried to deal with the dinosaur, and she just discovered what her car jack was for. Before her partner could react, she jumped into the jaws of the tyrannosaur.

"Ladybug! NOOO!" Cat Noir shouted and felt like his heart stopped terrified. "You're so gonna pay for this!" he drawled toward the dinosaur.

Suddenly the tyrannosaur froze. Ladybug immobilized his jaws with the jack, then calmly walked to his paw and destroyed the bracelet. Akuma flew only to be caught by the magical yo-yo.

"No more evildoing, little akuma!" Ladybug muttered and purified the butterfly.

Then she approached to Cat Noir to say, as usual:

"Pound it!"

But her partner didn't join her this time. He hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear:

"Don't do this never ever again, Bugaboo…"

And she felt her heart melted when she heard the tone of his voice.


	16. I trust you

Ladybug freed herself from the embrace of Cat Noir. She approached Alya's father and asked him to come back to the zoo and take care of the animals. Cat Noir patiently waited for her, even though his miraculous had already beeped warningly. She came back to him and stroked him on the cheek:

"You have to go, Cat…" she whispered softly.

"Bugaboo…" he began but hesitated.

"Meet me in the evening as usual. For your promised kiss…" she smiled meaningfully.

"But, Bugaboo… I think I know who you are."

"You've said that already!" she stopped him, putting her hand on his lips.

"But…"

"You can't."

"Why?"

"Because we're not allowed to know each other's' identities. We're superheroes. We don't have a choice."

"But I'm sure I know you! It's killing me. To be so close to you and couldn't tell you that it's me." He looked in her eyes. "I have a suggestion. What would you say if I visit you today? If it _is_ you, will you… will you confirm that I'm not wrong?"

"I don't know, Kitty. Really, I don't know…"

"Please, Bugaboo… I have to know. I'm not asking you who you are. I'm asking you if you are the person, I think you are. _It is_ a difference, don't you think?"

She nodded. Then she slowly touched his cheek, and he – as usual in such moments – closed his eyes for a while and smiled.

"Okay, Kitty. We can do that. I trust you."

"I'm glad, Bugaboo…" He whispered and kissed her goodbye.

They left the street in opposite directions. Ladybug didn't have much time before transformation, so she couldn't go too far from her home. When she appeared on her balcony, she didn't notice him anywhere. She sighed with relief, though this relief was somewhat mixed with a disappointment. Somewhere in the bottom of her soul she hoped that Cat Noir had guessed her identity. She sighed and opened the trapdoor. Leaping into the room, she whispered, _"Spots off!"_ and landed next to the bed as Marinette. She suddenly froze. Cat Noir was sitting at her desk with a wide smile on his face.

"I knew it." He said.


	17. Magical kisses

Marinette looked at Cat Noir in amazement, unable to combine the simplest words in any logical sentence. Finally, she spoke:

"But… How… How did you know?"

"I began to think about it after Valentine's Day. You said something that directed me to a classmate. And then I started to get to know you better and I noticed more and more similarities. And then… Then I recognised your handwriting from the va…" he stopped suddenly, because he almost blurted out about the Valentine card and their presentation for a chemistry lesson. On the other hand, what was wrong with her knowing his identity? He'd already known hers. And yet… He wanted her to guess. As he had guessed her identity.

"My handwriting?" she spotted. "How you could know my hand… writing…" her voice faded when she started realising what she had just heard.

A classmate? They were classmates? That meant not so many boys. Actually, everyone could know her handwriting. But Cat Noir had said something about _recognising_ her handwriting. From something started from "va…" Va… Va what?! And how had he got to know her better? She didn't spend time with Cat Noir as Marinette. The only boy with whom she spent more time lately was… Adrien. Adrien, whom she had sent a Valentine card. And a Valentine card started from "va…". She reminded herself the moment when Adrien had seen her calligraphy on the poster. Suddenly it occurred to her that he'd acted a bit bizarre then. Actually, he'd been acting weirdly in her company _since then_. Everything fitted.

"No. You can't be…" she whispered staring at him in astonishment.

"Why?"

"Because it would be the most tangled story in the world!" she got angry, and he jumped up from the chair surprised. He didn't expect such a reaction.

"But why?"

"Oh, you really don't get it?! Say you're not _him_! Otherwise I will tear you to pieces!"

"Marinette… But I don't understand."

"Oh, I'll explain that!" She brought her face close to his face, squinting. "Do you know, what I had to go through to fall out of love with you and fall in love with you? Wow, this sentence doesn't even make sense!" She exclaimed, making a move as if she wanted to pull her hair out. "Just tell me you're not _him_!"

"Whom?" he asked, trying not to laugh. That would be his suicide.

"Adrien Agreste…" she drawled still looking at him.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Deny!"

"I…" he hesitated. "I can't…"

And before she could say or do anything, he put his arms around her and kissed her. He knew that his kisses worked wonders, so even if she wanted to kill him, he would postpone this sentence for a while.

"It's not fair…" she murmured after a moment.

"What?"

"You use your magical kisses against me."

"They are not magical because they're mine. I've already told you, Marinette. Only true love kisses are magical."

"Ooooh…" she muttered and suddenly she began laughing.

"And now you got me."

"Oh, Kitty!" she stammered still laughing. "I think I've solved your Valentine riddle!"

"There was a Valentine riddle?"

"I know why my kiss worked that day! Indeed, I _was_ in love with you."

"But you didn't know that was me."

"Actually, I still don't have any proof of that it's you." She muttered.

"You risk an unpleasant contact with my kwami…" Cat Noir replied. "Plagg isn't the most charming creature…"

"I like him!" Tikki cut in.

"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed indignantly.

"What? The cat's out of the bag." Tikki replied in innocent tone.

"That should be my part." Cat Noir laughed. "But OK… So be it. Plagg, claws in."

A moment later, Adrien was standing in front of Marinette, while Plagg approached to his head with a wry expression and murmured:

"That should be me, who would tear you to pieces for these 'nice' words about me. I'm not the most charming creature? How you don't know me at all, kid…"

But neither Marinette nor Adrien paid the slightest attention to him. They stood face to face, without taking their eyes off each other.

"So? Will it hurt very much?" Adrien finally asked with a shy smile.

"I'm just wondering." she murmured. "Damn, it's really you…"

"I can't deny…"

"Couldn't you tell me?" She sighed, rolling her eyes. "That would make a lot of things much easier. And a long time ago."

"You didn't let me tell you." He remembered.

"Right. I must have been stupid. I should let you tell me."

"So…" he hesitated. "You don't love me anymore?"

"Huh, good question. I've been so confused… In one moment, I thought I didn't love you anymore but Cat Noir, and then you did something like… Uhm… I couldn't handle it at all."

"You don't have to choose anymore." He grinned.

"Well, you're right…" she smiled back. "I don't know if Adrien's kisses are also magical."

"I'll say it again. They aren't magical because they're mine. Only…"

"…True love kisses are magical." they finished together and laughed loudly.

And then Adrien touched Marinette's cheek, leaned over and whispered:

"Damn, I get the jitters."

"Scared kitty…" she whispered and kissed him.

_Her_ kisses were also magical…

THE END 3


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